Nicholas Lisi / The Post-StandardIona head coach Tim Cluess yells during the second half in a game against Syracuse at the Carrier Dome during the 2010-11 season.

An upset in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference semifinals Sunday called attention to the questionable nature of the NCAA tournament selection system.

After losing to Fairfield, 85-75, Iona Coach Tim Cluess argued the Gaels' case for a rare at-large bid in the Big Dance--one that has only been delivered to the MAAC once in 30 seasons.

"Obviously I believe we deserve it," Cluess said to reporters following the upset. "... I don't think because you get knocked off in your playoff game that everything you did all season long should be thrown out the window. We had a very good RPI (38). To me, if that's not going to get you an at-large bid, then what's the sense of ever having a schedule like that? … So I'm hopeful that the NCAA looks at that and rewards us for it."

The Gaels are 25-7 this year, including 15-3 in the MAAC and 15-6 on the road. They haven't beaten a top 25 team but they beat Maryland by 26 points and lost to Purdue by just one point.

Cluess also took aim at the Big East on Sunday.

"What do you need an RPI to be?" Cluess asked as he lobbied for his team. "If you're going to pick eight or nine teams out of the Big East, I think that's nonsense because those teams aren't as good as we are. The top teams, yeah. Not the seventh-, eighth-, ninth-place teams there or any other league."

Louisville finished seventh in the Big East and West Virginia finished eighth. Seton Hall and UConn shared the ninth-place spot.

According to CBSSports.com's Bubble Watch, West Virginia (19-12, 9-9) will likely earn an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament, Seton Hall (19-11, 8-10) and UConn (18-12, 8-10) are on the fence and USF (19-12, 12-6) is a long-shot to earn a bid to the Big Dance.

Last week The Sporting News' Ryan Fagan estimated that the Big East will have 9 NCAA tournament bids. On Sunday ESPN's Joe Lundardi predicted the Selection Committee will take 10 Big East teams.

Last year, the Big East sent a record 11 teams to the tournament.

The Gaels haven't made the NCAA tournament since 2006, when they lost to fourth-seeded LSU 80-64. They are 0-6 all-time in the tournament, including a two-point loss to Syracuse in 1998. MAAC teams are 7-29 overall in the NCAA tournament.

What do you think? Should the Selection Committee give more at-large bids to mid-majors like Iona?

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